1,000-year-old temple lies battered after Cambodia-Thailand border clashes

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia, March 24, (AP): It's been three months since a ceasefire ended bitter border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand, but signs of combat are cut deep in this 11th-century temple atop a 525-meter (1,722-foot) cliff in the Dangrek Mountain range. The neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been fighting over Preah Vihear temple on and off for decades, and that's putting the ancient holy site in danger.

Built by the same Khmer Empire that constructed Angkor Wat 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest, the temple was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 and are held as an important cultural relic by Cambodians. But after two rounds of major combat last year, much of the structure is damaged and Cambodian officials say that parts of it may be in danger of collapse.

Where tourists once admired the weather-beaten structure's elaborate carvings and a magnificent view over the Cambodian plains, there is now stone debris, artillery craters, and the ashes of burnt vegetation. "The temple has turned quiet, and its beauty looks so sorrowful because of the tragedy,” Hem Sinath, archeologist and deputy director-general of the National Authority for Preah Vihear, told Associated Press journalists visiting earlier this month.

The site is closed to tourism due to unstable walls and concern about the presence of unexploded ordnance. Areas are roped off and dotted with signs warning of land mines, a hazard Cambodians know well after decades of civil war that ended in the late 1990. Conservation staff, groundskeepers and troops remain stationed in and around the temple, from which Thai soldiers can be seen just across the border.

All five of the temple’s notable gateway pavilions were damaged, three almost beyond recognition, according to a damage assessment issued in January by Cambodia’s Culture Ministry. An ancient northern staircase previously restored by a US-funded conservation project sustained severe hits from repeated bombardment.

A statement issued last week by Cambodia’s Culture Ministry said the temple had suffered damage in 142 locations during the fighting in July, and at 420 more during heavier and more sustained combat in December. "Experts have predicted that during the upcoming rainy season, some structures on the verge of collapsing could finally fall,” Hem Sinath said. No independent outside evaluations of the damage are available. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra accused the Thai military of relying on false information to justify incursions and of deliberately damaging the temple.